Unions Wanted Exemption From Salary Increment � Khama
Baboki Kayawe | Monday June 5, 2017 18:00
He said they (labour movements) went to court asking for an exemption from the latest four percent salary adjustment. Khama, who spoke at length on issues of labour at the occasion of the National Teachers Day celebration here, said it was not true that Government has divided the civil service as unionists have been saying.
He was reacting to Botswana Teachers’ Union (BTU) president, Johannes Tshukudu who had earlier blasted Government for polarising public sector employees. Tshukudu, is also Botswana Federation of Parastatal, Public Private Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) president. In his impassionate address he said, “both the employer and Government are deliberately dividing the public servants.”
“As I speak teachers are one class of public servants that have been denied three and four percent salary adjustments by both employer and Government,” Tshukudu said.
This discrimination, he said, has or may have far-reaching implications in the education system and human resource development in Botswana.
“…something that negatively impacts on the economic development of the country,” he said. He further called on the Government to show both administrative and political will respectively to nurture cultural and traditional notions of meaningful dialogue.
However, Khama, who took to the floor in a combative mood said Government had intended to award the three and four percent salary increases to all members of the civil service had unions not gone to court “to ask to be exempted”. Furthermore, he said Government worked out what it could afford- and that “did not stop the Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC) to bargain for more.”
In hushed tones, some people in the gathering disagreed, but President Khama pressed on. “It is unions who went to court to say they reject what Government offered.” He added that the bargaining process took unnecessarily long time, citing one point when the PSBC “went on from April, and reached a settlement in September”. “The increment only came to effect in October. Workers lost six months of salary increase and that was unacceptable,” he said. Further, he said the Council has been hijacked by politics, hence becoming dysfunctional.
In April, BOFEPUSU went to court to challenge a four percent increment awarded to non-unionised public service workers. However, Government went ahead and implemented the salary increment to non-BOFEPUSU workers after the Industrial Court had ruled in their favour in a case that also saw Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) opposing BOFEPUSU’s application. Meanwhile, Khama said celebrating Teachers’ Day actually demonstrated Government’s resolve to acknowledge, appreciate, recognise and celebrate the contribution of teachers in the communities.
“It is therefore critical and very encouraging that on this day, we recognise and acknowledge those that have played a pivotal role towards our nation-building endeavours and continue to do so,” he added. The achievements of local teachers, he said came against a backdrop of challenges such as the shortage of teacher accommodation, large class sizes, limited resources and other welfare issues. “Government continues to address these challenges. This is evidenced by among others, the provision of housing for staff that continues to be one of Government’s top priorities. Currently, Government is constructing 292 additional houses through the Economic Stimulus Programme initiative, which will be available by the end of the year,” he said.
The day was celebrated under the theme, ‘Teacher: ‘A Catalyst for Transformation in Human Resource, 50 Years and Beyond’.